CLANNAD - The Changed Path
by Spywo1
Summary: Tomoya Okazaki, a delinquent in high school meets someone at the foot of the hill on his way to school. From there, he embarks on a long, long journey upwards. Along his path he meets many people, yet his experiences feel familiar as if he's seen them before...
1. Prologue

**Prologue:** **April 14**

This town was boring. Everyday, I lived the routine, over and over, day by day. Nothing exciting ever happened. I woke up, went to school, leave and go to my friend's place. Then go around the town until late, and went home and slept. I hated this town you could say, would you be right? Absolutely. As I said before, nothing exciting ever happened. This was all true until yesterday that is.

As I walked to school, I saw no students walking along the usually crowded street. Normally a plentiful of students would walk along this street to get to school, but today there was no one.

 _That must mean I'm late. Again._

This was fairly common for me, I stayed up til late, and never got home until dark, then waking at noon, making me chronically late almost every day. Due to this, I was labelled as a delinquent, along with my friend Sunohara Youhei. We both didn't care and continued to be late regardless of what the teachers tried to do. I should also mention why I stay out late. It was because of my good for nothing father. Ever since my mum had died, he had been in a sorry state. She had died when she was young and even after all of these years, he still hasn't improved. He constantly gets drunk and passes out in the living room every day, so I make sure I leave home as soon as I can after I get changed so I don't see him. To top it all off, he no longer calls me Tomoya. Instead it's Tomoya-kun, like we're roommates, and not father and son. I hated him. He never did anything for me, and if he tried now, I think I'd just resent him for taking so long to come to his senses. Now at the foot of the hill that leads to the school, I saw a girl with long silver-grey hair. She was looking around at the Sakura trees leading up to the school gates on either side of the path.

 _Doesn't she know she's going to be late?_

Also, who puts a school at the top of a hill? Poor design choice if you were to ask me. I continued to walk up the hill and towards the girl.

"Yo, you do know that you're late right?"

She turned around to face me, probably wondering who would be talking to her, especially at this time. "Oh, yes, I'm well aware. I came in late, so I decided to view these trees along the way." She lightly sighed. "Also, you are also late, we should get moving. May I ask who you are?"

"Sorry, I'm Tomoya, Tomoya Okazaki."

"Tomoyo."

Huh? Tomoyo? "No, Tomoya-"

"My name is Tomoyo. Tomoyo Sakagami. Let's head off now, Tomoya."

"Uh, yeah."

I continued up the hill, following her to school. This girl didn't seem to care with the formalities, well, it's not like I care. The violent one didn't care for them either. Now seeing the main building, I wondered if Sunohara would be here at all.

Morning break had started soon after I walked into class during second period. Looking to the seat next to me, I noticed that lousy blonde wasn't here. Oh, sorry, I mean Sunohara. Head on the desk, I tried to get at least some rest before the beginning of third period. The classroom was noisy, but I didn't mind. I could sleep through louder on good days.

"Okazaki-kun?"

I heard a familiar female voice. Knowing who it was, I ignored her.

"Okazaki-kun!"

She's a persistent one isn't she? Raising my head to her, I finally gave my response.

"Ah, Fujibayashi. I'm trying to sleep here, sorry."

"Eh? But third period is almost starting!"

I put my head back on the table, once again beginning to ignore Fujibayashi. Third period is exactly why I'm sleeping.

"Okazaki-kun, um… take these."

Raising my head, again, I saw that she had paper in her hands.

"Oh, declaring your love to me are you? Pretty brave aren't you?"

I saw her face going red, she always went like this with this subject.

"I-it's not a l-love letter."

I decided that if I can't sleep, I might as well make the most of the situation. "Oh, a letter of challenge?"

"No…"

"A chain letter? Pretty mean for you to pass it on to me."

"No! It's the morning notices given out."

So, it was the stuff I don't care about, well, my fun was over.

"Boring."

I took the papers from her hands and shoved them into my desk. I could tell that she was surprised and frowning at me, nothing unusual.

"Also, Okazaki-kun, I don't think you should come to school late anymore." She looked down at my once again lowered head.

If only she knew why I came late, we wouldn't have this conversation constantly. Although, I'm not going to tell someone I barely know my life story. Not even useless boy knows.

"You sound like the class president or something."

She really is trying her best as the class president, I know. It seems she's always under constant pressure to be as good as her sister.

"It's not 'or something'. I am the class president." Adamantly pushing the fact that she was indeed, the class president.

"Yeah, yeah, class president. Gotcha. Please, let me sleep now."

I looked up at the clock at the front of the class, only five minutes left now, doesn't seem worth it anymore. Putting my head back on the desk, I heard a shuffling sound, only to be followed by a sound of something dropping.

"Ah!"

Looking at Fujibayashi, I found the source of the noises, she had dropped her pack of cards.

"Okazaki-kun, your fortune shows that you're going to be late tomorrow."

Eh…

"You trying to make me mad?! You just said to stop being late dammit."

"Well, the cards say that you'll be late helping an old lady crossing the road, and you'll also get a reward."

I sighed. "What the heck, class is almost starting."

 _*Rattle*_

I heard the door open, hoping it was a late Sunohara, I turned my head to it.

"Tomoya!"

Not Sunohara. It was HER. Kyou Fujibayashi, the sister of Ryou Fujibayashi. She was quick to violence, often throwing a dictionary which she always had on her for some reason.

 _*Whoosh*_

Yep! It was thrown. Unlike Kyou, Fujibayashi was sweet and gentle, a klutz as well as I was just demonstrated.

"Don't make Ryou cry!"

A bit angry towards me for not doing anything.

"You alright Ryou?"

Now she's calm towards Fujibayashi… This girl.

"I'm fine sis, I'm not crying! I just spilt my cards…"

"Oho, Ryou's telling you your fortune? Hahaha, good luck!"

"Sis…"

Fujibayashi looked distraught, and Kyou as crazy as usual… nothing exciting.

 _*Ding dong*_

Oh, the signal for class went off, I guess I could just sleep through class. What class is it anyway? Looking around the room I saw my least favourite book. Great, English literature. Guess I can skip. Getting out of my seat, I was called by Fujibayashi.

"Okazaki-kun, where are you going?"

"Oh, bathroom, you guys got in my way a bit."

Without waiting for a response, I rushed out of the door.

I walked around the old school building, hoping to find a spot to sleep. I already knew of one, but I might get caught. It was the old library, now reference room. A teacher or student may need to get something for class there. I would go to the library if there wasn't a higher chance of being caught. I chose to head to the reference room, and if a teacher was there and asked what I was doing, I could just say I was looking for something, exclaim it wasn't here, and then head off. Flawless. Opening the door, I looked around for anyone who might be in here, noticing that no one was here, I continued walking in, sat at the table in the middle of the room and put my head on my arms. What an exhausting morning, dealing with Kyou is never going to change…

…

…

…

"Good afternoon."

It was a female voice I had never heard before. Crap, was it a teacher?

"Welcome to the reference room, may I help you with anything?"

I was tired, maybe I could joke around with her.

"A coffee would be nice."

"Sure, coming right up." The girl smiled as she went to make the coffee.

Huh? Really? If so, this couldn't be real, I guess I fell asleep and now I'm dreaming.

"Here."

A heard the cup hit the table, I rose my head and saw a female student younger than me sitting across the table.

"Ah, thank you."

Taking the coffee, I brought it to my lips and took a sip of it. It was delicious.

"So, do you usually serve boys a beverage before asking them out?"

I asked it jokingly, a smile was on my face, she seemed to get it and made a small giggle.

"No, I don't get many visitors. Sometimes I do get some odd ones."

With a school of this size, I couldn't doubt her, Sunohara was probably the weirdest of the bunch though.

"This coffee is good. Why does the reference serve coffee now? Is it a café?"

"Ah, no. I care after this room, in case people need help with something or want to relax. Like you. Lunch break will be over soon, so I would recommend you head back to class soon. I'm Yukine Miyazawa. Second year."

"Mm, I'll do that. I'm Tomoyo Okazaki."

"See you around then Okazaki." Yukine was still smiling with a bright cheery smile. She probably enjoyed having the odd person here.

Nodding back to her in response, I continued to drink the coffee. Sunohara probably hadn't come to school, no point now. I'll go visit him in the dorm later anyway. Finishing the coffee and laying the empty cup on the bench, I started to go back to class.

Upon getting to class, I found a worried Fujibayashi, and an annoyed Kyou.

"Yo."

I said that as I entered, grabbing the attention of the two sisters.

"Okazaki-kun, you said you were just going to the bathroom."

"Ah, I found other business elsewhere." It wasn't exactly a lie.

Kyou spoke up. "You mean like sleeping being useless."

She was sharp.

"Eh? Is this true Okazaki-kun?"

"Huh? Of course it's true Ryou! It's Tomoya, just how many times DOESN'T he leave the classroom?"

I don't leave the classroom as much as you think Kyou…

"No, I usually sleep in class, I skipped because of English literature."

That teacher really loves to call on me during the class.

"I think, Okazaki-kun, you should attend class more often."

The signal for class went off, meaning Kyou would have to leave.

"Time for you two class presidents to get along and organize things right?"

"Yes, Tomoya, which means you will stay here. Right Ryou?"

"Heeh? Oh, uh… Yes!"

"She hesitated, I'm going."

Kyou grabbed my arm as I jokingly walked away from my seat.

"You want to end up like Sunohara?"

Hahaha, I'm fine with living. Thanks for the offer.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sitting down."

Kyou gladly left after I had been seated, and Fujibayashi had headed over to hers at the front of the class. This is going to be a fun hour, not.

The final class had finally ended, I rushed off and out of the class, not wanting to be here as long as I needed to be. Running down the hall, I ran into another third year.

"Sorry!"

She yelled out, I didn't bother replying, I just went on my way. If it was school time I'd be a bit more polite. Maybe I'll run into her tomorrow. I looked back, hoping to catch her face, or something at least. She was still standing there, saying something I couldn't hear. She had a medium length head of brown hair, a strand poking out from the top like an antennae. I'll be able to find her tomorrow. Running off again I quickly ended up the school gates and onto the long, now downhill, road. Ah, this is where I met that girl from this morning, Tomoyo, doesn't seem like she's around. I wonder how she was when she got to class, since she was quite late.

I came to the road where the dorms are, I pondered whether I should go in first, or go and get some food. Eh, I'll let him suffer some more alone. Walking over to the shopping centre, I saw a familiar colour of hair, it was Tomoyo.

"Hey, Tomoyo!"

She turned around to face me as I walked towards her.

"Oh, Tomoya, hi."

"How did being late end up going?"

"I can only imagine it was better than your outcome, sleeping in the reference room a thing most third years do?"

So she saw me… I didn't expect anyone to see during class, Yukine came in at lunch break after all.

"I can't believe you saw that… What are you doing anyway?"

Tomoyo looked over to me, then looking back at the trees around us.

"Reminiscing in this area, it's important to me, just like the Sakura trees on the school road."

So that's why she had stopped in the road, I couldn't blame her.

"Ah, seems nice to have something to reminisce about, I'll see you tomorrow, got to get food."

"See ya."

We exchanged our goodbyes and I continued on, it seemed like it would start to get dark soon. Not that I minded, I would just want to be at the dorms before dark. Grabbing some ramen and tea from the convenience store, I headed back to the dorms. I've got to stop buying ramen so often, although, home isn't any better. I came to the place I had talked to Tomoyo a while ago and looked around. Given the time, she would have gone home. The dorms are now in my view, maybe I can get some more boring peace while there. The tea should at least lighten him up from his sleep filled day. Sunohara really needs to buy his own tea shouldn't he? High pitched screams were coming from inside the dorms. This was the male dorm though. Were the girls inside? Making my way inside, I found out the source of the screaming. Sunohara was being held by the collar by a rugby team member, yelling at him about turning down his music or whatever. It was an interesting scene at least.

"Hey, girl!"

"Oh, Okazaki. Wait, WHO ARE YOU CALLING A GIRL?"

"You weren't the one with the high pitched screaming? My apologies."

"Eh…"

Thought so, I want in now, I'm hungry.

"Come on Sunohara, let's turn off this trash of yours and drink tea already. Also, I'm hungry."

"I DON'T HAVE ANY FOOD!"

I held up the bag in my hand for him to see, his eyes narrowed at me, like it was MY fault I made him yell like a girl again. Oh, I forgot to mention he was still being held up by the rugby player, so he was yelling straight into his face. Nice going!

"How many times are you going to YELL IN MY FACE?!"

The rugby player dropped him on the floor and walked off down the hall. Sunohara mumbled something. "Stupid rugby players."

Heading to his room behind him, I decided I'd shout what he said.

"STUPID RUGBY PLAYERS!"

He pulled me into his room, I could hear the rugby players burst their doors open, only to yell out of them.

"WHO WAS THAT?!"

"Are you trying to get me killed here?"

Weakling, it was only the rugby team.

"You weak or something?"

"Of course not! I'd easily take them down if it was one on one, but this dorm has the whole team, I can't take them on!"

Of course he can't, no one could. Oh well, it's always fun getting reactions out of him.

"You gonna do something crazy at the end of the year?"

"Ohh yeah. They'll never see me coming."

"I'll get you!" I gave him a thumbs up and a smile.

"Since when were you on THEIR side?!"

"That day only."

He gave me the most displeased look I've seen from him. It was always worth seeing him in pain, what a sadist I am towards him.

"SHUT UP OVER THERE!"

Well, I guess Sunohara angered the rugby players, again. Let's provoke him.

"You want me to kick the wall?"

"Please don't…" His face filled with terror as my foot got closer to the wall. I put my foot down after he continued to plead for me not to. I think this was enough of teasing him.

Before I knew it, it was 10pm. Time had flown by quickly here. Same thing everyday, and I'm still not sick of it. Maybe just Sunohara.

"You staying? I'm going to take a shower now."

I got up from reading manga, there was no way I was going to be here to greet that face when he came back.

"Nah, see you tomorrow."

"See ya."

I had gotten out of the dorms and begun to walk the road to home.

Considering it was only now 10:20, I took a detour on the way back home. Dad usually wouldn't have left by now, maybe by 11. My current route would only give me an extra 20 minutes at my normal pace. Knowing this I stopped by the park close by and sat across from a local bakery. Furukawa bakery. Was this always here? I never noticed. It was two stories high, and the lights on the second floor were on. I guess being a local bakery it's also the owner's' home. It was now 10:30. A light came from the side of the bakery. A girl with medium length brown hair came out. Under normal circumstances I would pay no mind, but her hair… She had the same antennae! I got up from my seat and walked towards her.

"Excuse me. You're a third year right?"

"Ah!" I seemed to have startled her coming from the dark unexpectedly. Not much of a surprise. I held my hand up flat showing that I meant no harm. "Yes, I'm a third year. Why do you ask?"

"I'm sorry for bumping into you today. I was in a rush!" I bowed slightly. After no response from her I looked up at her. She was startled, probably not expecting me to bow with my apology. Or even apologize at all. Judging by her facial expressions she seemed like a shy girl. As I paid more attention to her, the way the light illuminated her made her look… Beautiful? No, she probably was just naturally like that. "Wow…"

"Eh? Um… What do you mean?"

"Oh, nothing." I straightened up from by bow. "Sorry again for bumping into you after school. I'm Tomoya Okazaki."

"I'm Nagisa Furukawa. Nice to meet you Okazaki-san!" Nagisa beamed as we exchanged names. "Don't worry about running into me, you said you were in a rush?"

"Ah, yeah."

"Also if you don't mind me asking. What are you doing out this late?"

I couldn't tell her my actual reasons why, I just met her. "Was staying out with a friend."

She looked happier, but her eyes showed a slight sign of sadness. "I wish I could do that."

Huh? "Do you not have any friends?"

"No," Nagisa looked down before looking back up to me. "They all graduated. I'm a repeat."

Before I could ask about her being a repeat, a voice called out to her. "Nagisa! You alright out there?" The sound of footsteps came closer to the door and her – what I assumed to be her sister – popped into my vision. "Oh? Talking with a friend? A boy no less."

"Mum!" Mum? Not her sister? "He was here to apologize to me for bumping into me at school."

Her mum smiled and clapped her hands together. "That's great! But at this time? What is your name I might ask? You can call me Sanae."

"He's Tomoya Okazaki. Okazaki-san said he was out this late because he was at a friends" Nagisa injected. Well I won't complain that I have to repeat myself.

"How nice! Would you like to come inside Okazaki-san?"

It was late and if I started to head back now I'd be home after my dad left. "No, it's okay. If you wouldn't mind, maybe another time?"

Sanae smiled. "You're welcome any time Okazaki-san! I'm sure Nagisa would love the company!"

I said my goodbyes to Nagisa and Sanae. They seemed like a close family. I wonder if we could have been like that if mum was still alive.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: April 15  
** I woke up on time for once, the curtains were shut, but some light was still making its way inside my room. I really didn't want to leave for school, but I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. Well, might as well get there on time for once. I got changed into my uniform and grabbed my bag as well as some money. Walking out into the living room, I saw my dad on the ground passed out. Trying not to wake him, I stepped over him. Opening the front door, I was slightly blinded by the sun. This is why I don't like getting up early. Stepping outside, slowly closing the door behind me, I began to walk down the road to school. There were many students along the road, a sight I didn't get to see often. Ah, that's right, Fujibayashi said that I'd be late to school, how could I be now since I got up this early? I looked around the street, and saw… eh, an old lady struggling to cross a road? She could not have been right, no way. I began to walk to her, but another female student had started talking to her, she was being yelled at. I started to turn my head away, until hearing a familiar voice.  
"What's the matter? I was only trying to help you cross!"  
"You can't fool me, you were trying to take my money!"  
"What money?"  
I turned towards the voice and found that the female student trying to help the lady was actually Tomoyo. It really seems like she needs help over there. Walking towards her, the lady was still yelling at her, Tomoyo's protests were useless. Students walking along the road were whispering about the situation.  
"Trying to rob an old lady, how shameful."  
Argh, if only they were in this situation. Seeing some money by the lady's feet, I grabbed Tomoyo's arm and pulled her away.  
"Don't worry, it seems she didn't want anybody picking up the money by her feet."  
"Hm?"  
Tomoyo looked back as we walked away and say that the lady had bent down to grab her dropped money.  
"Oh, thanks Tomoya, I probably would have been trying to continue on with her if you didn't pull me away."  
"Ah, don't mention it."  
Even now I couldn't possibly be late.  
"Tomoya! We don't have much time to get to school!"  
Maybe I was wrong after all…  
Tomoyo and I quickly headed down the path to school, we passed a few other students on the way as well, and giving us weird looks as we rushed along. If I got up this early I should have gotten Sunohara up as well. Oh well, it's too late now.

It was now interval, and only now was Sunohara coming in to class.  
"Yo Okazaki."  
He's lucky I didn't wake him up this morning. If I did though, I really would have been late for school.  
"For once I was on time for school you know that? I would have woken you up, but then I'd have been late. You should be thanking me for your sleep in."  
"How did you get to school on time…? You should just enjoy a nice sleep in. Ah well, I'm going to sleep again. See you at lunch."  
Sunohara collapsed on his desk instantly, obviously not caring about any of his surroundings.  
"Jeez… What a loser he can be."  
"Okazaki-kun."  
It seems Fujibayashi had appeared behind next to me without me noticing. Even though her desk was in front of mine.  
"You… You arrived on time today."  
"Only just. The fortune was pretty accurate."  
"Eh?"  
A surprised look had formed on her face. She was the one that told me I'd be late.  
"Although, it was far from right. An old lady was at the crossing, but yelled at someone I know when she tried to help her."  
"I'm sorry…"  
"Huh? No, don't be. It's not exactly your fault."  
 ***Rattle***  
I glanced over to the door opening to see Tomoyo standing there staring around the room from right to left. As she looked all the way to the left did she manage to spot me.  
"Tomoya!"  
She began to run over to me, causing the other students in the classroom to be curious about this girl who was calling my name. What was she doing here anyway? A second year coming into a third year class wasn't unheard of… It wasn't very common either. Especially when it's someone like me. I could tell that she was a second year and not a first year by her emblem on her shirt.  
"Tomoyo, what are you doing here?"  
"I didn't really get to thank you properly. So I asked around and found out what class you're in."  
"Okazaki-kun…"  
I looked behind me to see that Fujibayashi had a questioning look.  
"Oh, this is Tomoyo, the person who I helped this morning."  
"Nice to meet you. I'm Tomoyo Sakagami."  
"Ryou Fujibayashi. Nice to meet you too."  
For a moment I thought I saw a change in Fujibayashi's expression, but looking again she had her normal expression. I brushed it off thinking it was nothing.  
"So the fortune was accurate? Just that you weren't late."  
"Yeah, it was a bit off. She kinda started yelling at Tomoyo."  
"Fortune?"  
Oh yeah, she wouldn't know. Can't blame her.  
"Fujibayashi here does fortune telling with her playing cards." This might be good a chance for Tomoyo to find out instead of explaining it. "Actually, Fujibayashi?"  
"Yes Okazaki-kun?"  
"Think you could do a fortune for Tomoyo? If you don't mind of course."  
"Me? Oh well I couldn't ask her to do one for someone she doesn't know."  
"No, I don't mind. I'd love to."  
"Oh, well if you don't mind then I'll be happy to take it."  
Fujibayashi now had a small smile on her face, she really likes doing fortune telling.  
She shuffled her cards together, not spilling them this time and got Tomoyo to pick out 6 cards and then shuffle them together. Fujibayashi took the cards and lay them out on the table.  
"Please, turn over any 3 cards."  
Tomoyo turned over 3 cards as per instructed by Fujibayashi.  
"You will soon find love."  
"WHAA? H-How can you tell that?!"  
"Female intuition?"  
I'm not even going to try to question that.  
"Love though? I'm still in high school, and only second year…"  
"Well my fortunes don't always come true… Usually they don't."  
"From what I've seen they have… Oh but it wasn't entirely true right? So then what would come from this?"  
"Probably anything knowing Fujibayashi."  
That sounded a bit mean… I should apologise.  
"Ah… He's not wrong."  
"No, no. That sounded a bit mean." I tried my best to make sure that she didn't seem sad. If Kyou came in again…  
"No, it's true Okazaki-kun, I know myself how my fortunes are."  
"But it did sound mean-"  
I was cut off mid-sentence by Tomoyo laughing, not something I was expecting. It was… Nice.  
"Sorry sorry, just seeing you two like that made me laugh. I might come in here more often. Thanks, Tomoya."  
Tomoyo walked out of the room towards her class, still laughing a bit as she did. She might be interesting to have around. Unlike someone… Wonder if he's actually going to show his face today.

Only during lunch did Sunohara decide to come, doubt he's ever going to be on time. Although it would be out of character for him to be on time after all.  
"Yo."  
He slumped down on his desk, looking like he was asleep already.  
"Ergh."  
"Tomoya!"  
I turned my head a bit to see Tomoyo standing at the door, does she not have anywhere else to be?  
"Eh, Okazaki, what girl would be calling to you…? Because that definitely wasn't Kyou…"  
Tomoyo walked into the room, a few of the third years looking at her as if thinking 'why is a second year in here?' Of course even though she had been here before, it's now more than once. Even more surprising since she's wanting me.  
"Oh, hey Tomoyo. What'd you want?"  
She tilted her head slightly. Giving me a look that said 'You should know.'  
"I did say earlier I might come in here more often. So here I am." Looking down, she raised her eyes to me. "You don't want me here?"  
Dammit, the way she looked at me made me redden.  
"Uh… No, it's not that-"  
She laughed and – attempted – to straighten herself "Just joking with you!"  
"Okazaki…" I heard a moan from Sunohara. Shut up idiot. "Who's this talking to you?" He looked towards Tomoyo from his desk and got up immediately got up from his desk. "Ooh, what a beauty!"  
One moment Sunohara was standing in front of Tomoyo, the next he was across the room.  
"Uh, sorry. The way he was felt creepy…"  
"I don't blame you, kick him more if you like."  
"Okazaki…" A splutter of complaint came from Sunohara. Well he was alive. Unfortunately.  
"So it seems that someone else took care of my job for me." Leaning against the door frame was a girl with long purple hair. Kyou. She propped herself up and walked towards Sunohara. "Being a pervert huh? Serves you right."  
Kyou kicked Sunohara once more. Nothing to send him flying like Tomoyo's kick, but enough to – hopefully – make him learn his lesson. Don't mess with these two.  
"So, Tomoya? Who's this?"  
"Tomoyo Sakagami, a second year."  
"Hmm?" Kyou walked up close to Tomoyo and studied her face. "A second year coming for you?" She leaned close to me. Almost face to face at this point. "You haven't tricked her or anything have you?"  
"What? Of course I haven't!" At times, I'm not sure whether Kyou sees me like this or if she's joking… I sighed and showed an apologetic look towards Tomoyo. She nodded in response.  
"Hmm? Well, I'll leave you to it!" She started to leave the classroom, but not before going out of her way to kick Sunohara again.  
Tomoyo looked around the room. "Where's your girlfriend from earlier?" She continued to look around as I found myself confused at her question.  
"Girlfriend? Are you meaning Fujibayashi?" I could feel my face slowly heating up. "We're nothing like that!"  
"Oh. Sorry for the mistake." Tomoyo tilted her head slightly. "So, you're single then?"  
What's with her question? Not that I minded. But is that really something you casually ask? "Yeah, I suppose."  
"Ah…" I heard a small gasp. Whisper maybe? From behind me. I turned my head to the source of the voice. It was Fujibayashi. "S-sorry for disturbing you!" She turned and ran off out of the classroom flustered. With that expression on her face… No, it couldn't be.  
"I wonder what's gotten into Fujibayashi…" I mulled over my thoughts, trying to think if it could be anything else. "Ah, I guess I should see actually." I ran to the door after Fujibayashi, hoping I could catch up with her. "Sorry Tomoyo! I'll talk with you later." As I ran out of the classroom I thought I had heard her yell out my name.

It was nearing the end of lunch, and I still hadn't seen Fujibayashi after she left the classroom. I couldn't get the look of her flustered face out of my mind. Shaking off any thoughts from entering my mind, I continued my search around the school.  
"Tomoya!" I heard my voice in the distance. It was Kyou.  
"Kyou! Have you seen Fujibayashi around?"  
"About that Tomoya… Come with me for a moment." Her tone in voice changed from upbeat to the usual scowl I heard from her."

We were now sitting in the reference room, skipping 5th period. Kyou had dragged me here from the courtyard where she found me.  
"About Ryou Tomoya." I swallowed. She didn't take it as me making her cry, did she? "You still call her Fujibayashi."  
"Well, yeah. I don't know her very well after al-"  
I was cut off by Kyou. "Of course you don't! Which is why you should get together with her." I could see a devious grin forming. "From what I heard you are single. Aren't you? So this is the perfect chance to get to know her!"  
"Look Kyou, I'm not wanting to go out with anybody. Also, why are you trying to get me with Fujibayashi anyway?"  
"Jeez! You're complaining too much. Just ask her out. Also have lunch with us tomorrow."  
"Not interested."  
"You will be there. Won't you?" The daggers from her eyes were killing me. Guess I had no choice.  
"Fine. But that's all I'm doing."  
"Killjoy. Well, I'll just make you do it later. Alright?"  
Kyou left me alone in the reference room as she left to go back to class. It wouldn't hurt to kill the rest of the day sleeping here. This was the reference room though, so maybe a teacher would find me. There weren't many other places than here. However, there was the library. It wouldn't hurt to go there.

I found myself at the library after the fiasco with Kyou. Even for a library it was surprisingly quiet. This should be a good place for me to sleep then. I chose the large table in the far side of the library to sleep on. So even if a teacher did come in, hopefully they wouldn't notice me. Just as I was about to sit down and sleep, I saw a girl. She had long purple hair, deeper than the magenta-purple both Kyou and Fujibayashi had. Beside her there was a small pile of books.  
"Astropihics?" I tried to read the names of the books I could see. No luck though. "Reading some complicated books there?" Getting no response from her, I decided to take a place at the table and lay my head.

All around me I could see a lush green hedge. A path in front of me following it. I walked along the path and into an unfamiliar place. As I turned the at the end of the path, it opened into a yard. Within the yard, there was a white table with matching chairs sitting beside a flower garden. I continued walking into the yard to find a sliding door into a house. Where was I? The door slid open and there stood a young girl with purple hair holding a violin.  
"What are you doing in my backyard?" There was no violent tone to her voice. Only curiosity and confusion.  
"I was playing and just happened to end up."  
"My my, who do we have here Kotomi?"  
"Okazaki Tomoya."  
"Tomoya… Kun?"

"Tomoya-Kun." I could hear my name being called out. "Tomoya-Kun!" I opened my eyes to see who had called me. Nobody was there. I turned my head to the other side to find the girl from before standing there.  
"Ah, sorry. Did I disturb you?" I raised myself from my desk into a normal sitting position.  
"No… But, school is over." She pointed to the clock hanging over the library desk. School had indeed ended.  
"Oh, thanks. Uh…" I trailed off as I realised I didn't know her name.  
"Ichinose Kotomi. Kotomi spelt with three hiragana characters. Ko, to, mi."  
"Okazaki Tomoya." This whole scene felt familiar to me.  
"Tomoya…Kun."  
"No no, you don't have to wait it out."  
"Tomoya-Kun. Tomoya… Kun."  
"Ah whatever." I sighed. "Well, thanks Ichinose-san."  
"You may call me Kotomi-chan."  
"At least let me drop the chan." She nodded in response. I started to walk away to leave the library.  
"See you later." I stopped and turned my head to see her still standing there. I put up a hand and continued to walk. The feeling of familiarity washed over me again. Also, what was that dream? There was a girl, and I heard her name. What was it again? No matter how hard I tired, I just couldn't remember. As it was now the end of school, I decided to head over to Sunohara's.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

All around me there was a white blanket of snow. Why was I here? Slowly, my memories of this, empty, sorrowful world began to return. I had been in this world with a girl. She should have been right next to me. I remember us holding hands as we were both buried in the snow. However, she was not here, and I could not see her. I tried to remember where she would have gone. But, I couldn't recall anything. Was I now alone, as she had been, in this empty, sorrowful world? Alone, I tried to move. I couldn't. Without her it was impossible. She had made me. Now without her, did I have a use in this world? It was cold. Even if I couldn't physically feel anything due to my body, I felt cold. Was this what this world was without her? Cold? Did the world feel cold? Did the world feel anything at all? The questions within my mind continued circling, ever on and on. Maybe, just maybe, I couldn't move because of a paralyzing agony. If I forgot about her, my heart could vanish. I'd be void of this cold feeling. I might be able to move again. However, something within me told me that was a terrible idea. I once again tried to move my body. A finger lifted. Trying even more, my hand slowly started to move. It was not over. My long, long journey upwards… Had only just begun.

 **April 16** **th**

I woke up as if it were any other day. Late. I changed into my uniform and made myself breakfast before leaving the house. Luckily my father wasn't here. I walked down the usual path to school. Just like normal, there were no other students around me. I was alone. _Vroom vroom._ I heard a revving in the distance. A bike?  
"Tomoya! Look out!" I quickly turned to see the incoming bike, driven by none other than Kyou.  
"Woah!" I tried to move out of the way before I was hit by her bike. But even with all my efforts it still hit. "What do you think you're doing riding a bike to school?!"  
"Ah, sorry sorry. I got up late." She checked for bike for any damage.  
"I could've been hurt!"  
"Good, not a scratch. Guess I won't charge you for damages."  
"Are you even listening?" I sighed. "Drive me to school while you're at it."  
"Huh?" Her face seemed to go a little red from that. "Why should I have to?"  
"Because you hit me. It's only fair."  
"I'm giving you lunch, remember?"  
"Isn't that to get me with Fujibayashi?"  
"Ah jeez! You're annoying!" Kyou got on her bike and started the motor. "And… Call her Ryou…" She sped off on her bike towards school, leaving me behind. I didn't quite make out what she said as she left, but I think I heard her correctly on that I should start calling Fujibayashi Ryou instead. Ryou huh? I pictured myself calling her that. No way I could get used to it after calling her Fujibayashi after all this time. Especially if I was doing it because Kyou said so. I was now at the bottom of the hill that lead to the school where I met Tomoyo. Letting out a breath, I saw that a girl with brown hair stood at the bottom of the hill. A pang of nostalgia ran over me and my head started to hurt a little. Reaching to hold my head in my hands, I saw that the girl had disappeared. Had she already walked up the hill? Looking up the hill I couldn't see anyone. Maybe it was just my imagination. The weird sense of nostalgia was unsettling, but I chose to ignore it.

I arrived at my class by break, I sat down at my desk and lay my head on it. Fujibayashi came over to me and started talking to me.  
"You're late again…" She sounded disappointed. Did she think that me arriving on time yesterday was a change and I would do every day?  
"Don't sound disappointed. I woke up early yesterday. That's all." I lifted my head from my desk to look at her. I felt slightly annoyed looking at her. She hadn't done anything wrong, but Kyou wanting me to date her? "Ryou…" I quietly said her name aloud without thinking.  
"Ah!" She squealed after hearing her name. "Y-yes, Okaza… No, T-Tomoya-kun!?" Fujibayashi had her head down to hopefully hide her flustered cheeks. But even with her head down, she yelled out the last part of her sentence, which just happened to be her calling me by my first name. The rest of the class started to whisper about us.  
"Oi oi, is the class prez going at it with Okazaki?" "I thought Okazaki was going out with that junior. No?" "Of the sisters to go for it's the younger one?"  
Tch, I can hear all of you. "Listen, Fuji…" I stopped midway when I saw the sad look on her face when calling her Fujibayashi. Guess there was no turning back from this one. "Nevermind. Ryou."  
The class was silent. Everyone had quietened down. Even when I solidly decided to call her Ryou. Was it that shocking to everyone?  
"So that's how it was…" A familiar voice cause both a flustered Ryou and I to turn and see Tomoyo standing there dumbfounded. "I'm sorry if I interrupted you two. Fujibayashi-san. Okazaki-kun." Her words were lifeless. Yet, the tone felt familiar to me. A lost, distant girl who had lost all she had. That is what I felt from her words.  
"Tomoyo, wait!" I couldn't move from my seat. No, there were no excuses here. I just didn't. I couldn't push myself to chase after her and hurt myself in the process. What a coward I was. A warm sensation came across my left hand. Looking for the source of the warmth, I saw two hands encasing my own. Following the hand led to Ryou. For her to do this means I must have clearly shown some sort of pain on my face.  
"Tomoya-kun. You did nothing wrong. It's alright." Had she read my thoughts? She did tarot readings, on playing cards of course. But was reading cards the same as reading people? Or was it just her maiden's intuition at work? However she was able to tell, it comforted me.  
"Thanks, Ryou." The whispers started up once again throughout the class. I didn't care however. Not if I had Ryou by my side.

I didn't skip third or fourth period. Even with the number of stares and whispers that were directed at me. Focusing on the lesson itself was too much of a bore though. Instead I allowed myself to zone out in thought about the upcoming lunch with Kyou and Ryou. The bell for the end of fourth period rung, however I didn't seem to notice it as I was awoken from my daze by Ryou shaking me.  
"Tomoya-kun!" She said my name with a pout, making her seem extremely cute. More so than she already was. Adorable even. Wait, when did I start thinking about her like this? And since she's twins with Kyou… That doesn't mean I think the same about Kyou does it? Of course not! What makes her adorable is that her personality shines through. "Tomoya-kun!" I was awoken from yet another daze by Ryou.  
"Oh, right. Sorry. I was put into another daze by your cuteness." I said this with a sly smile, trying to emphasize it all I could. My efforts paid off as her face heated up into a fire red I had never seen before.  
"T-t-tomoya-kun…"  
"Well, we better head off before Kyou ends up killing me." I got a small giggle from her as we headed out of the classroom and into the courtyard.

Ryou and I finally found ourselves at the courtyard where Kyou awaited us with a… Picnic cloth?  
"Hey Fu…" I caught myself before I said any more. "Ryou?"  
"Yes Tomoya-kun?" With her response it felt like she had moved closer to me. Maybe it was just me.  
"What's with your sister being so… Frankly, overboard?"  
"Ehehe… She's just like that. I guess."  
"You guess?" Before I could get any more answers from Ryou, I heard my name being called out.  
"Hey, Tomoya!" It was Kyou. She waved to us as to say 'Hurry up.' And not with a good tone. "Take your time!" I could feel stares beginning to settle on me and Ryou. Looking down towards her, I saw that she had a lightly blushed face. The space between us now seemed less than before as well. I'm sure I wasn't imagining it. We made our way to where Kyou had setup. Ryou sat down first and I followed suite forming a triangle between the three of us.  
"Wrong!" Kyou shouted as soon as I sat down and dragged me extremely close to Ryou. "Ah, much better. Right, Tomoya?" I didn't know what to think honestly. If me calling her cute made her the reddest I had ever seen, then this was on a whole other level. I wouldn't be surprised if steam was coming off her right now.  
"Hey Kyou?"  
"What is it?"  
"Can I ask you something?"  
"Hm?" She replied briefly while setting up the lunch box. It was multilayered. Would we really be able to finish this?  
"Aside from the lunch box. Why are you trying so hard? To get me with Ry-" A hand covered my mouth before I was able to finish. Even though I could understand why Kyou had done it, I think Ryou understood what I was trying to say. Kyou had come up close to me now that I was silenced.  
"Take a hint dammit!" It was a whisper, but it still had that sharp Kyou tone that I was used to hearing. I tried to answer her by brushing off my question. But my mind felt pain and anguish. I thought I heard Kyou's voice. 'Honestly… I hoped you'd have turned her down. Then I could have been with you…' 'Tomoya… I love you.' Not knowing what I was doing, I pulled myself away from Kyou and stood up.  
"You're just doing this for your own sake aren't you?" I didn't feel in control. The emotions I felt from Tomoyo's reaction just moments ago came flooding back. "Just stop lying and act for your own sake!" I needed to get away. I needed to get away, just so I didn't end up hurting any of them. I couldn't stop myself, my voice continued to lecture Kyou without me in control. I helplessly watched as I saw her face change from anger, to shock, then to a face I never wanted to see again. She looked like she was about to break down any second. And it was all my fault. I finally managed to snap out of it, and Ryou's arms found themselves around my body. Holding me in an embrace. Just like before, it was Ryou that had managed to calm me down.  
"I… I'm sorry." I tried to move, but Ryou's embrace kept me well in place. She didn't want to let go.  
"Tomoya-kun. Tomoya-kun!" She sounded like she was shouting as I tried to remove myself from her arms. Her voice wasn't loud, but the meaning behind it shot through me. The whole courtyard was now watching us. Kyou stood still in place with the same expression just helplessly watching as her sister tried to keep me from leaving.  
"Ryou…" I said her name with a gentle voice, trying to tell her that I had calmed down. Laying my hand on hers, she loosened herself and began to let go.  
"I… I'll be leaving now… Sorry, Ryou. Kyou." Ryou nodded and quickly headed over to Kyou to console her. I didn't know where any of that had come from, but I was frustrated. I hastily walked away from the two before I drew any more attention to them.  
"Tomoya!" It was Kyou's voice once again. Unsure of whether she had called out to me, or it was in my head, I quickened my pace. Not wanting to know.

I needed a good place to lay down for the rest of lunch, maybe the final period too. Initially I thought the library would be a good place. But if I went there during lunch, I was sure to be sent back to class by a teacher. My next thought was the reference room. It would be a good quiet place to rest after all. Before I could decide, I heard a quiet voice call out to me.  
"Um…" I stopped where I was and turned behind me to see Furukawa standing there. Seeing her sent a dull pain through my body. "Okazaki-san?"  
"Yeah?" My voice sounded harsh and dead after what had just happened with the twins.  
"Are you alright? I saw what happened in the courtyard from here and I wondered… Hehe." She laughed a little and smiled. Obviously trying to cheer me up. But I didn't feel right around her. It was almost as my body was telling me 'Stay away from her.' 'If only I never met her…' What was that just now? A thought of mine? I really needed to rest now.  
"Sorry Furukawa, I don't feel well. Maybe another time."  
"Ah… Alright. You can pop by my house anytime… Mum's been wanting to see you again." Sanae-san has? What a trusting mother. I thought of visiting again since I had declined her invite last time. Another pain rushed through my body again, repulsing the idea of it. Without responding to Furukawa, I rushed off home. Passing through the courtyard, I looked over where the twins were. I could see Ryou, and a less than happy Kyou. And it's all my fault. Shaking my head to rid myself of the event, I continued to the school gate. As I reached the road where Tomoyo and I first me, each step I took grew heavier and heavier, as well as had a tinge of sorrow to them. I really must be sick. As the distance to my house got shorter and shorter, I became weaker and weaker. Each step I took used a lot of energy to take. My vision had begun to blur and colours of summer and winter begun to flash back and forth in my mind. I could feel hot the hot summer sun in the summer images, and I could see snow in the winter ones. I never minded snow, but each time I saw the winter image in my mind, I begun to hate snow. I felt hot. I needed rest. I needed… 'RyKyYuMiKoFuNa' many names invaded my thoughts all at once. And my vision turned black.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

I awoke to my head pounding. I was in bed at home. How was I here? I tried to remember what had happened. I remember walking home, and then starting to feel pain and dizziness… It's no use. I can't remember a thing. There were noises from the kitchen. Was there someone here? Getting out of bed was exhausting. My body repeatedly told me not to move. But each pain that ran through my body I ignored. When I finally managed to get out of my room and able to view the kitchen, I saw what was causing the noise. Who, in this case. It was Tomoyo. She seemed to be preparing something. Although I couldn't tell what.  
"Tomoyo?" I managed to call out her name. But my voice sounded hoarse and rough. Had the events of today driven me to absolute sickness? I could tell that she had frozen up from me calling to her, just by her back alone.  
"Okazaki-san…" She turned around with a smile on her face. But her voice spoke her true emotions. It was filled with sadness. She shook her head, maybe trying to shake all thoughts out. "Go rest. I'll be done soon." I did as I was told and went back into my bed. The pain throughout my body lessened as I lay on the soft mattress. The day's events flashed through my mind as I closed my eyes and tried to get at least some rest. I may not know how I got here. However, I assume since Tomoyo's here that it was her.

"Okazaki-san." I woke up to Tomoyo calling to me and shaking me. Waking up only made me feel worse than I had before. I groaned and sat up. I attempted to get out of bed, but I was stopped by Tomoyo. "Stay. I'll… I'll get your dinner." She walked off to what I assumed would be the kitchen. I wasn't sure what to think about this situation. But, it was nice I guess. From the kitchen I could hear more noises. She was probably trying to find where everything was. I laughed as I heard her sigh.  
"Top left cupboard!" I yelled out to her in case she hadn't found what she was looking for. Although yelling didn't do my voice any justice.  
"Thanks! Found them." I heard back. "Let's see…" A moment later Tomoyo came in with some soup. I couldn't tell what it was from the smell alone. "I won't be able to nurse you back to health. But, at least you're feeling well…" She trailed off. Her face told me everything I needed to know.  
"Tomoyo?" Before I asked anything, I decided to give her a chance to continue.  
"I… I found you on the side of the road while heading down this way by chance. I thought of the worst case…" Tears begun to form in her eyes. "But I'm happy you were okay when I found you… And, well. I knew where you lived because I asked your homeroom teacher, so I could talk about earlier…" With her explanation, I had no more questions apart from ones that no one would the answers to. "I…" My mind thought back to Ryou's fortune from before. About Tomoyo finding love. If she had and it was me…  
"Tomo-"  
"I'm sorry!"  
"Huh?" The fact that it wasn't a confession surprised me. Maybe I had read it wrong. And Ryou's fortunes weren't accurate to begin with as it were.  
"And well… I heard what happened in the courtyard… I'll talk to her, your… Girlfriend that is."  
"Girl… Friend?" She heard about the courtyard? And she once again thinks that Ryou was my girlfriend. Did she think we got in a fight because of her?  
"The one who told me my fortune. Fujibayashi-san."  
"I told you before, she's not my girlfriend. How do I say this? Her sister is trying to get us together and I guess that's how we got on a first name basis."  
"Well… I should apologize for my behavior at least."  
"I'm sure she would forgive you. But yeah, go do that."  
After that I ate the soup Tomoyo had made for me. It was delicious, even more so since I hadn't had lunch. I guess I should really apologize to them both as well. We sat in silence as I finish my meal. It had been a long day. For us both. No. For all of us.

Tomoyo and I said our goodbyes. Luckily my dad hadn't come home yet, so she didn't have the 'joy' of meeting him. I don't know if it was fatigue from the day, me being 'sick', or Tomoyo's soup, or even a mix of the three, I managed to fall asleep before dad had returned home.

 **April 17** **th**

I woke up early, and I don't remember my dad coming home. Which would explain why I'm able to wake at this time. The events from yesterday went through my head as I tried to get myself out of bed. As much as I would like to skip school, I needed to talk to both Ryou and Kyou. Never had I seen such a face on Kyou. And I didn't want to see it again. The pain that could be seen through her expression was too much for me to handle. I forced myself out of bed and got myself ready for school.

Along the road to school, there was once again many students. A sight that I wasn't used to, and honestly didn't want to get used to. To them, I was most likely invisible. I received some stares from various students, and I think whispers as well. Yesterday really seemed to have an impact on me and my reputation. I came to where the road split off. The same road where Kyou had gotten me with her bike just yesterday. That girl, she really needed to watch out for others.  
"T-tomoya-kun?" From behind I heard an innocent, startled voice. I turned my head slightly to see Ryou walking behind me. To think I'd run into her here. Although, I couldn't see Kyou with her. "Um… You're here early." I could see that she had put on a smile, but it was faltering. It was understandable, she was probably weary of me now after yelling at Kyou like that out of nowhere.  
"Sorry, did you want me to leave and come late?" I tried to say it jokingly, but it came out in a more serious tone than I had intended. She had stopped walking as I said that and looked down at the ground. I put my hand on her head, I don't know why but I felt like I should. Maybe it was that I felt guilty.  
"T-t-tomoya?!" Ryou hadn't been expecting my action, but she didn't try to object. "I… Um…" Her face quickly turned red alike yesterday, and her eyes were darting around. I could feel the gazes of students on us again. More whispers, and maybe a rumor or two, were sure to come from this.  
"Sorry." I took my hand off her head and started to slowly walk off.  
"Ah…" A disappointed sigh came from Ryou which made me stop again. She ran up beside me and stuck close. "I… I don't mind. Tomoya-kun." With how close she was now, I was beginning to think that maybe my suspicion from yesterday was right.

Together we walked to school. Ryou never left my side, maybe even getting closer if that was even possible. I was pretty sure that there was at least one person looking at us. If Sunohara saw, actually, even heard about this, he'd never shut up about it. There was little to no conversation between us as we walked. I occasionally looked down at her and saw a red tint on her face. Sometimes our eyes met before we both quickly looked away. I guess even though she caused this she's embarrassed about it. I thought about asking about Kyou, and apologizing. But… With how happy Ryou was right now, I couldn't bring myself to talk about yesterday's events. The morning sun shone down on us as we approached the hill that led to the school. In its light, Ryou appeared more beautiful, especially with how close she was to me. I gulped instinctively. I couldn't help but to stare at her as we walked. Small details about her became apparent to me. Like how she walked, and the way her hair blew in the brisk wind. I'm pretty sure she noticed because she started to look down and blush.  
"Sorry." There was no response from her. But I could feel her against me as she was now effectively leaning on me.

Ryou didn't end up leaving my side until we entered the classroom. There was no chance that a person from our class hadn't seen us. By the time it was break, there would undeniably be a rumor or two. Surprisingly there were no whispers throughout homeroom or in the next two classes. I did see Ryou look back towards me occasionally before quickly turning back as our eyes met. My attention wasn't towards the class as the hours went by, I still had yesterday on my mind as I thought about how to confront Ryou about it and Kyou. I ended up thinking about Ryou's behavior and how Kyou wanted us together. Did Ryou agree? Or did she like me? I couldn't be too sure, but I wouldn't suspect a timid girl like her to like a delinquent like me. We _had_ gotten closer over these past couple of days, but I couldn't imagine us dating.

Apparently, I ended up lost in thought until break because Ryou came over trying to wake me up.  
"Oh sorry, I was lost in thought."  
"It's fine. Um… Did you have any plans for lunch?" Lunch? Thinking about lunch made me think of yesterday. I didn't see her come with a lunch box though.  
"Plans? No. Not in particular." Assuming she wanted to ask me if I wanted to go with her later, I thought it'd be fun to tease her slightly. "You want to go for lunch later? How bold."  
"T-tomoya!" Ryou had said my name in a loud voice. Gaining the attention of the whole class. "Y-you didn't let me ask you!" After she said that, she noticed that the whole class had turned their attention to her. "Ah…" Ryou looked from side to side before looking down at the ground in embarrassment. I couldn't help but let out a laugh. Apart from that, I couldn't think of anything to say. The attention from the class had slightly died down, but there were still prying eyes on us. "Um… Would you like to have lunch with me though? If you don't mind."  
"No, I don't mind. But you didn't bring a lunch box, did you?" I could tell from the look of her eyes that something was off.  
"Ah… No. Onee-chan is off today."  
"Sorry." It was quiet, but her eyes met with mine. Turning her off expression into a serious one.  
"You've said that a lot today." Ryou pulled me out of the classroom by my arm and didn't let go. I couldn't imagine what our classmates would think of it.

She ended up taking me to the old school building. Specifically, the reference room. Luckily for me, Yukine wasn't here. I couldn't imagine why she had brought me here.  
"Tomoya-kun." She looked into my eyes with a stern look. Never had I seen this from her. She sighed before continuing. "Yesterday wasn't your fault. Onee-chan was, well, shocked. But…" Ryou never finished her sentence. Instead she wrapped her arms around me. Not like had yesterday, but with a more gentle, softer hold. "Tomoya. I…" The same feeling that came from when it was like this with Tomoyo came over me. I was anxious about what she was about to say next. "I… It's not your fault." In response I decided to put my arms around her as well. It felt awkward with her being the only one embracing. We stayed like this for a while before we separated. Neither of us knew what to say. Ryou had said what she wanted to say. And I, well, did something that she probably wasn't expecting.  
"Should we head back now?" I was the one to break finally break the few minutes of silence, although it seemed to take an eternity. She nodded in response and once again, similar to this morning, she came close to me.

I spent the next two hours pondering recent events with Ryou. I just couldn't get her off my mind. I'd blame Kyou for that since she's the one who originally brought up the whole dating thing. But maybe it was me. Dating though? It wasn't something I could see myself doing, no matter who it was. Would I accept if Ryou asked me out? Maybe I should think about it in case she does feel that way. My heart sank as I imagined the alternative of turning her down. She may have been a bit less timid and bolder recently. But I'm sure that she's still the same old Ryou I've come to know. How do people deal with that sort of pressure…  
"Arrgh! I don't know…" I let out a quiet complaint. Apparently, it was loud enough for the teacher to hear.  
"Okazaki? Is something wrong? Did you not understand what I was going over? And you were actually listening?"  
"Sorry sir, don't mind me." His gaze fixated on me before turning back to teaching the rest of the class. I didn't even know what class it was, and I wasn't going to bother to find out.

"Tomoya-kun!" I was shaken awake by what looked like an angel. The midday rays came through the windows, illuminating her face.  
"An angel?"  
"T-tomoya-kun? Um… It's me… R-ryou." Slowly becoming more awake, the bright rays dimmed in my vision, and Ryou came into full view. I thought I also heard her say 'I can be one if you want.' Although pretty sure I imagined that in my sleepy state.  
"Oh, sorry. Must have slept." Noticing the lack of students in the class, it must have been lunch. "It's currently lunch now right?"  
"Yes, it is. Was there anywhere you wanted to go?" I thought about, and the reference room came to mind. Not just because of what happened before, but because I could use a coffee.  
"I know a good coffee place close by. If that sounds good?"  
"We-we're going out?" I laughed. Not quite going out.  
"You'll see."

We got to the reference room once again, and I opened the door to check if Yukine was present. Glancing inside I could see that she was reading a type of magazine.  
"Ladies first." Ryou's expression told me that she didn't know what to think. But she followed my instruction and went inside, with me following behind.  
"Ah, welcome." Yukine welcomed Ryou as she came into her view. "Oh, Okazaki-san. Nice to see you again." She gave me a warm smile. "Are you two…"  
"I brought her here after an invite to lunch. Said I knew a good coffee place close by." I got a small giggle from Yukine.  
"The reference room? And, how do you know her?"  
"On a period I skipped, I slept here and woke up with her here. She asked me what I'd like, and I jokingly said coffee." I probably should have left out the skipping the whole class part of the explanation. Although it was too late now.  
"Tomoya-kun. You can't skip classes!"  
"You sound like the class president or something." I repeated my joke from the other day. I couldn't help it. "Or are you aiming for something else?"  
"T-tomoya-kun!" Ryou's face started to heat up as she had realized what I meant. But our small banter was cut short by Yukine's laughter.  
"Sorry, it's just that seeing you two... I couldn't help myself." That sounded familiar. "Well, considering you said that you wanted to show her good coffee. I'm assuming you would like some?"  
"If you don't mind." I still remember the taste of the last coffee I had of hers was like.  
"Oh, by the way. I'm Miyazawa Yukine."  
"Fujibayashi Ryou. Pleased to meet you Miyazawa-san."

Ryou and I had sat down while Yukine made us all coffees. My gaze was intrigued by the magazine she was reading. I'll make sure to ask her of it when she's finished. Yukine sat down passing us our coffees. I let Ryou take the first sip to see her reaction on its taste.  
"It's good!" The look on her face could tell me she wholeheartedly meant it. Hopefully Yukine could see that as well.  
"Thank you."  
I put down my coffee and turned my attention to Yukine. "Say, Yukine?"  
"What is it Okazaki-san?" Looking at the magazine that she was reading from earlier again, I could see that it had English characters on it. Not anything I could understand though.  
"That magazine you're reading, I'm curious to see what it is. The cover has English characters right?"  
"Oh, this?" She held up the magazine. A small segment fell out and she quickly grabbed it. I didn't bother to ask what it was. "It's a book of horoscopes. Done similarly to the Chinese Zodiac format. If not the same."  
"Horoscopes huh? Sounds right up your alley Ryo-" Her eyes were fixated on the book. She looked like she wanted to grab it straight from Yukine's hands. "You think you could show us some? Mainly Ryou here."  
"Sure." The entire time that Yukine was going through the magazine, Ryou was enticed. "What's a good one?" She seemed to be lost in thought as she turned the pages, trying to find one for Ryou to try. "Fujibayashi-san?"  
"Yes?"  
"What type of horoscope would you like to try?"  
"Is there one that… Tests compatibility?"  
"You mean like with a lover?"  
"Exactly that."  
Yukine flipped through her book trying to find one.  
"Are you two dating by chance?" She asked as she continued to try to find what she was looking for.  
"Oh, no." I responded. "We're just close friends." Ryou had gotten closer to me after me saying that. Although she wasn't too close for me to feel uncomfortable.  
"I see, I don't think this will change the charm then. What are your birthdates?"  
"October 30th."  
"September 9th."  
Yukine studiously read through the book. Making various facial expressions as she did. "It says here that for each of you, your lucky numbers are 1, and 9. Fujibayashi-san, you should take every change as it comes, and try to understand them as they come." Looking over to me, Yukine's expression changed a little. "Okazaki-san, while you like to care for others, you should try to branch out of your inner shell to confront any changes or challenges. Together with these results the two off you can learn and grow your bond together."  
Ryou's face had lit up, if it could have even further that is. She was fascinated with what Yukine had said.  
"You don't mind if I confirm that Miyazawa-san?"  
"Go ahead." Yukine started to pass Ryou the book, but Ryou had something else in mind. "Cards?"  
She didn't respond to Yukine's question, but instead began to shuffle the cards and lay them down. One by one she drew a card from the top and placing them around the deck, seven in total. Yukine and I sat in wonder as Ryou's expression shifted as she read each card. Finally, her eyes moved to the final card. She nodded.  
"Well?" I asked.  
"Thank you for your time Miyazawa-san." Ryou got out of her seat and packed her cards. She hastily left without saying a word to me.  
"Ryou? Ryou!" I yelled out to her as she left the room, but she didn't stop. "Ah, sorry. And thanks for the coffee." I started to chase after Ryou, but I felt a tug on my sleeve.  
"Can we talk tomorrow? I want to talk to you about something."  
"Sure!" I nodded my head as thanks once again to Yukine before rushing out the door, running down the hall in hopes that I can find where Ryou ran off to.

It was almost the end of lunch, and I still hadn't found Ryou. Where could she be? I had checked all of the old school building, homeroom, the rest of the floors on the new building, and back to homeroom. I was now standing near exhausted in the courtyard by the side entrance of the school. I looked around the immediate area and still couldn't see her. Deciding to move towards the school gate, I saw Ryou standing near an empty spot in the courtyard.  
"Ryou!" I had shouted, but luckily there was almost no one around. So, any attention that would be on us would be minimal. "Ryou, I… I found you." I had to stop running midway to getting her, just so I could catch my breath.  
"Ah… Tomoya-kun. You found me!" I was caught off guard by her cheerfulness. Was she not upset?  
"Huh? Wait, you're not upset or anything?"  
"Nope! In fact, I'm happy that my fortune came true."  
"You mean the one you did in silence." She nodded. "What did it say then?"  
"Even if you run away wordlessly, the one who cares shall always come to find you." Ryou poetically recited the fortune she had read for herself. "Or something like that."  
I sighed, and place both of my hands on Ryou's shoulders. "Ryou, you don't need a fortune to know that I'd chase after you if you ran out like you did."  
"Tomoya-kun…"  
"Come on, let's go back to class." I let go of Ryou and turned around to walk off, but I was stopped by her grabbing onto my hand.  
"Would you like to eat lunch? I grabbed us some bread from the cafeteria when I ran off."  
My stomach grumbled on cue. "I guess we have time."  
She smiled, and we headed over to a nearby stone wall.  
Giving me my share of the bread she bought, she leaned onto my shoulder. "I suppose we ended up having lunch out here after all."  
"Yeah." I looked over to her as she leaned on me, and the way she looked as she relaxed next on me caught me off guard. This time _I_ was the one heating up. "I suppose we did."


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Ryou and I ended up heading back to the classroom separately as she ran off ahead after saying that she had something that she needed to take care of. I couldn't help but think back to the moment she leaned on my shoulder.  
"Yo." I heard a voice I hadn't heard in a while. "Woah, Okazaki! Your face is red!"  
"Huh?"  
He came up extremely close to me, turning his back to the class.  
"So who's the lucky one?"  
"Who's the luck-" I stopped, realizing what he was asking. "No one you moron."  
"Hmmm? I didn't think that the sun could get you-"  
"Shut up." I put my head on my right hand, turning my head away from him. He's surprisingly sharp in the worst possible moments.  
"Hey Okazaki, I've been thinking." My head did a full turn towards him, making him jump back in surprise.  
"You've been doing what?"  
"Thinking."  
"AHAHAHAHA! YOU? THINKING? AHAHAHAHA THAT'S RICH!" I couldn't stop laughing, never have I heard those words come from him in a serious tone.  
"Oi, you better shut it. Miss class pres is coming." Following where he pointed with his thumb, I saw Ryou entering the classroom walking towards us. "Ah, too late."  
"Sorry we couldn't come back together, Tomoya-kun."  
Oh yeah, since Sunohara hadn't been here he wouldn't know that we've gotten close recently.  
"Huh?" He blinked a couple of times. "Come back together? Tomoya-kun?" His look of surprise and confusion only grew as he looked between me and Ryou. "OKAZAKI, YOU BASTARD! WHAT HAVE I MISSED?"  
"We're getting married." I non-clamantly spouted out the first thing that came to my mind to throw Sunohara off his track of thinking. Well if he had any that is. Now turning my attention to Ryou, I noticed that she couldn't comprehend what I had just said. Even though she had been able to be bold recently, in one line she had gone back to how she was before.  
"M-m-m-married… With Tomoya-kun…" It seems that with that line, Ryou had completely broke and was now in her own land.  
"Now I see what you meant by she's not your girlfriend." Tomoyo walked into the class with a serious tone, although there was a tinge of sadness to it.  
"Tomoyo, I've said bef-"  
"I know, just joking with you. I saw it all." She sounded like she was about to crack up laughing. Looking at the situation, she placed a hand on my shoulder. "Well, I'll come by tomorrow. Good luck."  
"You're leaving?" I slightly heightened my voice as she began to walk away.  
"Lunch is almost over!" She walked off out of the class and raised a hand in goodbye. Her brief appearance not making the current situation any better.  
"Okazaki… Stop leaving me in the dust." Sunohara had gone to his desk and basically flopped down on top of it.  
"Ahhh I have no clue how to handle this!" I hadn't noticed due to the commotion before, but the class had once again turned all attention to me, as well as a few outsiders peeking in. Whispers were going around the room much to my dismay.  
'Marrying Fujibayashi? They're just in high school.' 'They've gotten close really quickly.'  
I felt like this was going to be a long final period.

" _Okazaki Tomoya. Please report to the principal's office immediately. I repeat, Okazaki Tomoya. Please report to the principal's office immediately."_ Halfway through the period my name was called out through the PDA. Confused on why I would be needed there, I ignored it for a short while.  
"Okazaki!" My teacher yelled out to me, catching my attention. "You were called."  
I stood up from my seat without a word, and my teacher retracted back as far as he could to the wall of the classroom. Given his behavior I assume I had a horrible expression on my face right now.  
"I'll go to make sure he gets there!" I heard Ryou as I left the classroom. I stopped and leaned against the wall to wait for her. She left the classroom running and went pass me without seeing me.  
"You won't catch up to me like that Ryou."  
"Ah…" She stopped and turned around. "You waited."  
I started walking to the principal's office, passing her. Ryou began to walk fast to catch up to me before slowing down to match my pace. The walk to the principal's office was silent. I thought I heard her try to say something, but every time I looked to see if she had, her head was slightly looking down towards the ground. Almost as if she was thinking of something.

Both of us stood outside the principal's office nervously. Although to me, it felt like Ryou was more nervous. Before I had a chance to enter the office, the principal himself came out.  
"Okazaki, you're here." He noticed Ryou standing beside me as well, his eyes narrowed slightly before returning to a normal resting position. "Fujibayashi? I don't believe I called for you. Actually, it's good that you're here as well."  
We sat down in his office opposite him. The fact that it was good to have Ryou here as well only added to my confusion. Even though we were in the presence of the principal, Ryou was sticking close to me.  
"You two seem like you're close."  
"Yes sir," I responded. "We are only friends though." Beside me, I could feel Ryou shift a little, as well as seeing her look down from my peripherals.  
"I thought as much. I wouldn't have imagined you getting yourself a wife at this age."  
"Wait, you heard about my small joke?"  
"You and your class have been the center of attention among the seniors as of late. Rumors and whispers have reached my ears, of course." Coughing to clear his throat, he set his hands down crossed together on his desk. "Anyway, do you know what I would like to speak to you about Okazaki?"  
"No sir, I have no idea."  
"The other day, at the courtyard…" My blood drained from my face as he said those words. "I do believe that you had yelled at Fujibayashi Kyou, her sister." He gestured to Ryou before continuing.  
"Sir, you misunderstand! Tomoya didn't do anything wrong!" Tomoya?  
"Please, Miss Fujibayashi, let me talk to Okazaki first." He turned his attention to me, silencing Ryou. "Would you like to explain what happened that day?"  
I nodded.  
"Well, to give context here, Kyou the day prior had been harassing me about a… certain topic. I think that's why I did what I did, or at least to some extent. She invited me to lunch with the premise of having Ryou there, which I didn't mind doing. Although she did have to harass me quite a bit to get me to go." I took a huge breath, calming myself for what I was about to say next. "At lunch, I left the class with Ryou, and we headed down to the courtyard were Kyou waited. As we sat down though, and she positioned me to sit next to Ryou, I felt something come over me, like it wasn't in my control. Because of that I yelled at her, about, things that I didn't even think." I took another deep breath. Ryou looked at me with a compassionate stare. "I'm alright Ryou."  
"Okay Okazaki, that should be enough. Thank you." He let out a breath, slightly making me nervous about what he would say next. "You will not be suspended. But please, refrain from any behavior like this in the future. I can say for sure though that being around Fujibayashi has made you a little more… Kind, I should say."

He waved us off out of his office as he finished talking to us, mainly me. I was surprisingly let off easily.  
"Tomoya-kun. Would you um… Um… Um…" Ryou had stopped outside of the office after we got shooed out. She was fidgeting as she spoke. "Well um… Would you… Like to uh… Come over?" She said the final words quietly, but I was still able to hear them.  
"Come over? Wait, do you mean your house?" All I got from her was a nod. "But what about-"  
"I-i-it's fine… She's not mad at you or anything…" Her expression seemed to tell the truth. It was also probably why she hadn't brought up the events from yesterday today.  
"Well…" I thought about it, did I really want to go there?

" _Tomoya-kun, would you like to come over?"  
"Huh? Why the sudden invite?"  
"Well… My parents wanted to meet you. There's no problem with it right?"  
"No, there's no problem. But a bit bold from you."  
"Tomoya-kun!"_

" _Tomoya!"  
"Ah, Kyou? What's up."  
"Come round today. My parents want to meet you."  
"You sure it's fine with your sister. You know, after… Well everything…"  
"I'm sure it'll be… Fine. She's partially the reason why we're together anyway…"  
"You're right… But I don't want to upset her."_

" _So, you're the one who's dating my daughters!"  
"Just one, sir."  
"I do understand the situation. As a father I should be mad… But Ryou told me everything and asked me to not be mad at you… Because of that, I see you as a respectable man. You didn't run away, and you tried to solve things personally."  
"Thank you sir."  
"Don't think it's over just yet though. Try your best to give Ryou space, but at the same time take responsibility for what you've done. Either way, she'll forgive you."  
"Thank you for the advice sir."  
"Call me –"_

"Tomoya!"  
I snapped awake from a loud voice. I felt like I had been sleeping.  
"Tomoya!"  
I could see Ryou above me through my blurred vision. Had I actually fallen asleep? A jolt of pain shot through my head, prominently in the back.  
"Tomoya!" She started to shake my shoulders. What had happened?  
"Ryou?" My voice sounded quiet and hoarse just like the other times my head had ended up hurting. I felt a pressure on my chest and found that Ryou lay across me.  
"Tomoya… You're alright." The pressure on me tightened as she tried her best to wrap her arms around me.  
"Hey Ryou, can you get off of me? I appreciate your concern, but uh… I kinda can't move."  
"Ah…" She loosened her hold on me and slowly moved off of me, allowing me to move. Now being able to clearly look at her, I noticed that she had begun to form tears in her eyes. I stood up, brushing myself off.  
"You've been calling me just Tomoya sometimes haven't you?"  
"Ah… Sorry… I'll stop."  
"No, it's fine with me. It's just so sudden…" _"Tomoya-kun… Is it all right if I just call you Tomoya? Onee-chan does and I… I-I want to be a better girlfriend to you!"_ "And familiar…"  
I must have ended up in another daze because Ryou was shaking me.  
"Tomoya-kun, are you feeling alright? If you're not, we can save the visit for another time." Her eyes were focused on the ground. The tears in her eyes had now gone, but I felt like they could return at any moment.  
"I'm fine. Just need some… Thinking to do." I sighed. "But I'll go." She looked up at me after my response. Her expression lightened.  
"Y-you don't have to if you don't want to…"  
"No, I'll go." I felt uncomfortable about it, but, I wanted to find out what this feeling was. There was no verbal response from Ryou. Only her arms around me.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The bell for the end of school rang. By the time Ryou and I had come back into the class, it had been close to finishing. We had gotten a few stares from the teacher and a few of the students, but aside from that, everything was normal. I looked over at Ryou who was still at her desk, trying to put away her things as she was surrounded by a horde of girls.  
"Fujibayashi-san, tell me my fortune!" "Me too!" "Jeez, I got here first! No fair!"  
"Um… I'm sorry. I have to head home today." I could hear her quiet voice over the ruckus of the girls, although it didn't have the boldness behind it like it did when she was around me.  
While Ryou was busy trying to escape her… Fans? I decided to have my own fun. Sunohara was asleep on his desk, unaware that school had ended. I kicked his seat with my heel, moving his seat quite a bit. He hadn't woken up from that, so I tried again. This time he did.  
"Woah! What was that?" His gaze eventually turned to me. "Oh, it was you Okazaki."  
"Sunohara, I am not Okazaki." A pathetic line, even for me. There's no way he'd believe this.  
"Huh? No, you're Okazaki." He said that, although he was carefully studying me as if he didn't fully believe his own statement.  
"No, I'm a hologram of Okazaki."  
"A hologram?"  
"Yes. You fell asleep for 100 years."  
"What's happened to humanity?" His face flooded with anguish. Even for an idiot, he couldn't be this stupid.  
"In ruins."  
"Mom, dad. I'm sorry for being so useless." He sat there with his hands pressed together as if he was praying. At this point, it was certain he wasn't playing along with my joke.  
"Tomoya-kun!"  
"Tomoya-kun?" Hastily coming back from his praying position, his face showed that he had realized what was going on. "SO YOU ARE OKAZAKI!"  
"She's a hologram too."  
"Then humanity…"  
"In ruins." This time it wasn't me who said it, but Ryou. Had she heard what I was saying before and wanted to join in? "Tomoya-kun, let's go." She whispered to me. Understanding what she was meaning, and why she joined in, I hastily followed and left Sunohara behind to wallow in his own imaginary world.

As we left the school, there was no conversation between us. Ryou sullenly looked down as she walked, as well as twiddling her thumbs. I thought back to the moments after I left the principal's office with Ryou. She had hugged me after I had collapsed, which was something I wasn't expecting. As well as the hug she had started to say something but never finished it.  
 _"Tomoya-kun, I um… I… Ah…... Nevermind!"  
_ I couldn't see her face as she was hugging me, but she had said that she quickly let go and we headed back to class. I wanted to find out what she was going to say, but best not to pry.  
"Tomoya-kun. Tomoya-kun!"  
Once again, I found myself being shaken by Ryou.  
"Jeez, you were lost in thought again." Her eyes were filled with concern. I _had_ been spacing out quite a bit though.  
"Sorry, just, thinking." She looked down after my response, but she seemed less worried.

We continued to walk in silence as she guided me to her house. The atmosphere between us was tense. I didn't think I had done anything in the time between school and here, but she gave off the feeling that something was amiss.  
"Hey Ryou?"  
"Y-yes?" She jumped as she responded, probably not expecting me to speak so suddenly.  
"You feeling alright yourself? Also, I've been wondering about what you were going to say earlier." A panicked look came across her face.  
"Ah… I-I'm fine." Even though she had responded, she continued to look down. "And um… About the thing I was going to say… Um… You'll find out when we get home!" Ryou looked up at me after finishing what she was saying. Her face was flustered from her response, as well as her walking pace quickening. I increased my own to keep up with her, but kept slightly behind so I wouldn't walk ahead while walking to her house.

Eventually, we ended up at the Fujibayashi house. Ryou nervously approached the front door. I could see her hand shaking as she reached out to open the door. With the door now opened, she turned towards me.  
"C-come in." She was smiling. I could see that on the edge of her lips the smile was faltering, but she was trying her best to keep herself composed. I got the feeling that if I stayed out here for even a little too long she'd start to break from the suspense.  
"Th-thanks for having me." I walked past Ryou and into her house. A foyer greeted me with a black cabinet with a painting set above it. I could tell from the foyer alone that the Fujibayashi family was well off, or at least to a decent degree. The more I looked, the more I found little details that stood out and made the Fujibayashi family stand out as well off. Was it really okay to date one of their daughters? No no no! What am I thinking? Damn Kyou…  
Apparently, I had spaced out once again because after I had done a pan of the foyer, Ryou was beside me.  
"Tomoya-kun, would you, um… Would you like to sit down?"  
Oh, yeah. Thanks, that'd be good." Her eyes sparkled at my response.

Ryou guided me into the living room. It was huge. The room held two couch sets that were a royal blue color with what seemed like a high-quality material. Lamps atop side dressers paired with the couches. Amongst the setup, a coffee table sat in the middle of the room. It wasn't big, but it fit the room nicely.  
"Wow…" I found myself panning my eyes across the room in awe. Ryou must have been amused by my amazement because I heard a giggle from behind.  
"Do you like it Tomoya?" Ryou walked up from behind me and past me into the living room. "You've never seen something like this, have you?"  
"It's… It's amazing." The more I looked around the room, the more I the room shone its beauty to me. "How did you afford all this?"  
"Our parents have good paying jobs. Not enough to be spoiled of course, but enough to save and get what they want."  
"It must be nice..." I thought of the state of my house. A small, rundown rental that smelled of alcohol and had little space. It was enough to live in, but with my dad there I couldn't call it home. "You have these pleasures."  
"Tomoya…" Crap. My thoughts must have come through in the tone of my voice. "If it's alright with you, would you tell me about your home?"  
"It's… Nothing special." I paused. Did I really want to tell Ryou about my life at home? I looked up at her and saw a face filled with concern. There was no way I could let it stay that way. "I hate my home. The reason for that being my dad. I was accepted into this school on a recommendation for basketball, but…" I took a breath. The subject was still heavy on me, no matter how many times I'd think over it. "But in my final year before coming here we got into a fight when he came home drunk one time. The fight resulted in me injuring my shoulder. I was stubborn and didn't go to the doctors. Because of that, I can no longer raise my right arm." I tried to raise my arm to show her that I couldn't. Her face was full of shock, and it looked like she was close to tears.  
"Tomoya…" I could hear all of the emotions from Ryou's voice. Even though it wasn't her that it happened to, she could still be upset over it. For a moment I felt like there was another pair of eyes on me, but I turned my head and saw no one.  
"Hey Ryou? Is anyone else here?" I looked around again and still couldn't see anyone. Was it my imagination.  
"No, aside from Onee-chan who will be in her room. We've got the house to ourselves." I wasn't sure if she meant it in a certain way or not. I'd rather not find out.  
"What time do your parents come back?"  
"They're out tonight. Onee-chan was meant to cook dinner tonight. But…" Kyou was? Well I can't imagine her cooking in her state.  
"So I don't even get to meet them." I was disappointed, slightly. If I could meet them and pass my apologies to Kyou it'd be nice.  
"Ehhh? Y-you wanted to m-meet our parents?"  
"Well since I'm here, I thought I might as well." It wasn't entirely false, but I didn't want Ryou to know the whole truth.  
"Ah… That's what you meant." Her eyes lowered slightly before quickly meeting my own, filled with determination. "Did you want to stay for dinner? If you're not busy that is."  
"Dinner?" I thought about it. Would it be dinner with just Ryou and I? Or would Kyou join us as well? "Well, I don't have anywhere to be. But what about Kyou?"  
"Onee-chan wouldn't mind… I think."  
"You think? Ah whatever. I'll stay." Her eyes gleamed to my response. I could feel my face slightly heating up because of how cute she looked. To try to hide my embarrassment I looked away from Ryou while putting my hand behind me head to hopefully cover my face. "Well, since I'm staying, what are we having Miss Ryou?"  
"Um… I don't think Onee-chan will be cooking tonight, so uh… Anything you want? Ehe…" She ended her question with an awkward laugh.  
I thought about it for a moment. "Well, there's nothing in particular…" I tried to think about what I'd want, but I usually just bought myself bread, cup ramen and tea.  
"How about we go out to get miso or ramen?"  
"Miso or ramen huh?" I looked at the clock that was across the room. _4:06_. "Still too early to go out though isn't it?"  
"Yeah, a little." Ryou looked down slightly, trying to meet her eyes with mine. "Did you um… want to leave a little early?"  
"Do you mean now? Well we did only just get here."  
"Ah right… I-I'll get changed out of my uniform!" Ryou ran off flustered up the stairs, presumably to her room.  
I took a seat on one of the couches while I waited, examining the room. More of the finer details of the room were noticeable as I looked around, taking it all in. I couldn't help but think of how lucky they were to live somewhere like this. All I had was a small bedroom to myself with a bed and a desk while my father slept in the living area, usually reeking of alcohol, after a day of work.  
I sensed someone come into the room, a dismissed it as Ryou being finished.  
"You finish-" I was unable to finish my sentence. She sat beside me, and looking over, I saw that it wasn't Ryou that had entered, but Kyou. "Kyou…"  
Kyou looked like an utter mess. Her hair was curled upwards at parts and it covered her face to hide her expression. She wasn't angry, nor sad. There were no words to describe how she felt, but just by being next to her I could feel exactly what I couldn't describe.  
Neither of us talked for a while, and Ryou still hadn't finished. I knew it took girls a while to get ready, but wasn't this taking a bit _too_ long? I almost got out of my seat before Kyou grabbed by shirt arm.  
"Tomoya…" Kyou was looking down. Her voice was filled with a desperation of some kind. I relaxed and let myself sink back into the couch beside Kyou. She seemed to be happy with that because she loosened her grip. I thought I heard her say 'Thank you,' but she showed no sign of ever talking.  
There was silence for a while as we both sat there, unmoving, and unspeaking.  
"You've… You've gotten close with Ryou." Her voice was quiet, but loud enough for me to hear her.  
"Yeah, I guess I have."  
Once again, there was silence. I waited a few moments before starting to speak again, but I never got the chance. Instead, interrupting me, Kyou leaned over and I felt a warmth on my cheek.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

I looked out the window of my classroom toward the yellow-orange sky. The sense of waiting was killing me. I continued to wait for my girlfriend, soon to be ex-girlfriend, Ryou Fujibayashi. It was nerve wracking, just waiting here looking out at the sunset. From behind me, I heard the door to the classroom slide open. I turned around to meet her. The look on her face told me that she knew exactly what was going to happen.  
"What did you want to talk about? Usually in a manga, when there's two people alone in a classroom, you'd see a kiss scene wouldn't you?"  
"Fujibayashi…" I began.  
"Why are you calling me by my last name?" The pain on her face was clear. However, she spoke again before I could respond. "I always wanted to beat Onee-chan. I didn't want to lose to her. I knew who Onee-chan always had her eye on. I asked her for advice, knowing her feelings. I told her I wanted to get close with Tomoya-kun. She was surprised, but smiled right after that. She said, 'Leave it to me.' I knew she'd say that. I knew I was playing dirty too. Even then… Even then, I wanted to be near you. Can't I replace Onee-chan? I'll become more outgoing like Onee-chan. I'll grow out my hair and practice cooking too." Ryou stepped closer to me. "I will become the girl you wish for."  
"No." My reply came out of me instantly. "It's not like that. I don't want you to do something like that."  
"I want to be close to you." Her words hurt me. I tried to look away as I said my next words.  
"I-" Before I could get them out, Ryou ran up to me and kissed me. It didn't last long, but it was effective enough to tell me what she wanted to say. I was unable to see her face as she ran off. And as for myself, I stood there shocked and angry. Not at her, but at myself. I kicked a desk to the right of me, making it slide across the classroom a meter or so.

In class, I sat there empty. Doing nothing, just sitting there. The teacher was in the middle of teaching the class, calling people to answer the questions.  
"Fujibayashi. I guess she's not here." Just hearing her name hurt. "Then Suzuki." I raised my head a little so I could see the desk where she would usually sit. It was empty and untouched. I cursed at myself for doing this to her. I should be the one to be missing school, not her.

"You're not going home?" I heard Sunohara ask me. He waited a moment, but I gave him no answer. Not even so much a movement. He didn't wait around any longer and turned around and left.  
"The days I spent with you were a lot of fun." My voice began to lighten as I spoke. "I realized for the first time that it makes me so happy to be needed by others. I thought I'd get along well with you like this." My head turned to the girl standing there. Fujibayashi. "But I can't." I rose from my seat. Confronting her directly as she listened. "I was being a jerk. While I was with you, I was looking at someone else. I kept it to myself even after realizing that. I was taking advantage of your kindness…" Fujibayashi was still there, head down, listening to every word I had to say to her. "I… The person I love is… Is your sister. I'm sorry." I lowered my head. I could no longer look at her as I ended saying what I wanted to say.  
"Tomoya." The voice that come out of Fujibayashi was not hers. The girl who I thought was Fujibayashi ran towards me and grabbed me before looking up at me. Her face, although similar to Fujibayashi's, was not her. There, where blue eyes normally resided, were purple eyes replacing them. Tears flowed down her face as I realised who I had let out my feelings to.  
"Kyou!" She continued to cry, letting out louder sobs at my realization. "Why did you… Your hair!" Through her sobs, I could hear her what sounded like a laugh before turning back into tears.  
"She yelled at me. Ryou told me not to run away. I didn't mind if it stayed this way. I didn't want to choose you if it meant hurting Ryou. But she said it. 'That's impossible. It's too late. If you really love Tomoya, you can't run away anymore. There's no other choice but for both of us to get hurt. We ended up loving the same person.'" I could imagine Fujibayashi saying those exact words to her. It seemed so, _her._ "I bet she's crying right now." Kyou paused and compelled herself. "Really, we're so late. Realizing, acting as though not realizing, and facing each other too. But I'll make this the last time we get hurt. Her, me, and you too."  
"Yeah." Everything Kyou said spun around in my head. I knew exactly what was about to be said next though as she stopped crying entirely.  
"I love you, Tomoya. I've… I've… Always loved you."

"Huh…" I was brought back to reality as I heard a quiet voice from behind us as Kyou kissed me on the cheek. "Tomoya-kun… Onee-chan… Um…" Ryou ran off. I could hear the front door of the house opening, and then being slammed shut.  
"Ryou!" Kyou rose off the couch in an instant. But she wasn't fast enough to catch Ryou. She had left before Kyou even got to the entry to the room. "Ryou…" I could hear her voice coming from the foyer.  
"You're not going to go after her?" I had stood up myself, but I didn't leave the room, still dazed by what Kyou had just done.  
"It'll be useless at this point… It's… It's… All my fault…" As her sentence trailed off, she started to fall. Fortunately, she had been coming back to the room.  
"Kyou!" I managed to catch her quickly. "Are you alright? What's wrong?"  
"It's all my… It's all my…" Kyou's eyes slowly closed.  
"Kyou! Kyou!" What do I do? Call the ambulance? First, I should get her laying down somewhere.  
Between Ryou running off and Kyou suddenly collapsing, I had no clue what to do. Nor a way to contact Ryou to inform her of this. Luckily, she hadn't fallen far before I had caught her. With no way to bring her to her room, I slowly brought her to the couch where we had been sitting and lay her down. For how much of a punch she packed, she was surprisingly light, given my bad right shoulder.  
"Right, now to call-" I was cut off by the door to house opening. I immediately ran out thinking that Ryou had returned.  
"Ryou, Kyou! We had to cancel tonight's- Oh, who are you?" In front of me was not Ryou, but instead, their mother. The expression on her face was not one I'd usually expect from having a stranger in your home. She looked surprised, but calm. "Are you a friend of one of the girls? Your uniform gives it away."  
"Y-yes ma'am. Look, something's happen-" Once again I was cut off, this time by the father.  
"Not even in the door and it's this loud? Who's this?" He sharpened his eyes towards me. Almost as if I was being studied.  
"He was just about to introduce himself before you interrupted." She weakly hit him across the chest to tell him off.  
"Listen, Kyou's collapsed and is-"  
"What did you do to my daughter?!" His eyes flared with rage, and he took a step towards me, reaching out his hand.  
"Fujio Fujibayashi!" He stopped immediately after hearing her yell.  
"Yes… Sorry." Fujio retracted his hand and stepped back to where he had been. His face full of regret. "Please, continue."  
I nodded in response, and started to explain everything, beginning from when I yelled at Kyou the other day, and up to where Ryou ran off – leaving out Kyou kissing me of course.  
"So that's how we're here." I collapsed back onto the other couch, letting out a deep sigh of exhaustion.  
"I see… Ryou will be home soon, I'm sure." She looked up towards me, giving me reassurance. "Oh, forgive me. I have not properly introduced myself. I am Meiko, and this is my husband Fujio."  
"Okazaki Tomoya. Nice to meet you ma'am." I bowed my head in respect. Fujio was over by Kyou as she lay there on the couch. "Fujibayashi, sir." I turned my attention towards him. At my calling he looked up from Kyou.  
"You can just call me Fujio." His tone was light and quiet, which was to be expecting with what just happened with his daughters.  
"Then, Fujio-san." He nodded. "I can go out to go look for Ryou if that's all right with you. You can stay here with Kyou after all." Fujio shook his head at my request.  
"No, I'll go. Meiko is here in case she wakes up." His expression lit up, turning his sullen gaze to a determined stare. "Okazaki, let's go find my daughter."


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

We had been looking around town, for what I could guess an hour, and we still hadn't caught sight of Ryou. I didn't show it, but I was near panicking, so if I was like this, I couldn't even imagine what Fujio was thinking. We continued to search the surrounding area, now looking around the park that was around the bakery I had visited before. It was still light out, but the sky had begun to dim.  
"Okazaki-kun?" Fujio called out to me, slightly startling me from my daze.  
"Yes sir?" I instinctively called him 'sir' as in response.  
"I told you, just Fujio is fine…" He breathed a sigh in his pause. "Let's split up, we should be able to cover more ground with how big this area is." I nodded. He went off to the right side of the bakery, while I took the left.

As I walked down the road some more, I found some benches with shelters over them. It would be a good place to sit down. She couldn't be there could she?  
I slowly approached the benches, going around from the side to the front. As I turned to view the benches, there I saw Ryou, sitting there. She was looking down as she normally would, hands on her lap.  
"Ryou!" I called out to her, hoping that she would take notice of me.  
"T-Tomoya-kun?" It was obvious from her reaction that I was not expected. "W-Why are you here?" Being glad that she asked me something first, otherwise I wouldn't have a clue on what to say, I responded.  
"Looking for you of course! Your father as well."  
"Dad? But he and mum were supposed to go out…" I could hear the disappointment in her voice. She did seem to be looking forward to tonight.  
"They had to cancel, although I didn't get a chance to hear why." I breathed a sigh. "Regardless, you should come home. I have a feeling Kyou needs you right now." I wasn't exactly lying, but I'm not sure what will happen between the two when they get the chance to talk.  
"Onee-chan does? Why?" After the mention of Kyou, her tone changed entirely. Her saddened eyes turned to ones of concern.  
"It's… Hard to explain." I tried to think of a way to tell Ryou what had happened. But I couldn't stand to tell her. "You just need to come back."  
"I… I think I'll stay for a bit." She lowered her head and avoided eye contact. I was surprised by her response but left her be.  
"Ok, well… I'll head back. Just come home soon okay?" She gave no response. I didn't try to push for an answer, but I _was_ concerned with the lack of one. Even with my concern, I was still immensely worried about Kyou, and now that I had found Ryou, I could at least head back.  
Looking around, I couldn't see where Fujio had been before. I started to head back on the assumption that he had already headed back as well. 

I entered the Fujibayashi residence. I saw Fujio was back, waiting for my return, or Ryou's I guess.  
"Where's Ryou?" He asked me in a soft tone.  
"She said she'll stay for a bit." My voice grew quiet as I finished my sentence. Maybe I should have come back with her after all.

 _Would you like to go back?_

I heard a voice. It felt… Familiar. Although it didn't sound like anyone here had said it.  
"Okazaki-kun?" Fujio's voice snapped me out of my thought. "You alright?"  
"Oh, yeah. I'm fine." My mind was still on Ryou. I did say for her to come back soon. But it didn't sit well with me. Did I want to go back?

 _You only need to wish._

"Well, that's good. I know that you must be focused on Ryou's response… As am I. But, we did confirm her safety, at least."  
I nodded in response. Wondering if I had made the right choice. "Is Kyou up yet?"  
"Let's go check in with Meiko then shall we?"  
Fujio led me into the living room where Meiko was preparing something in the kitchen. From what I could smell, she had only begun to prepare tea for our return.  
"Okazaki-san! Welcome back. Has Ryou returned with you?" As she greeted me, she started to pour the tea.  
I shook my head, "No ma'am."  
"Oh…" Her voice gained a heavy tone and her hands retracted, making the tea stop pouring. "Well, she'll be home before it gets too dark anyway." Her voice had picked up her usual optimistic tone as she handed me a cup of tea. "Knowing her, she would have been wanted to be left alone for a bit."  
"Yeah, kind of."  
"Kind of?"  
"She didn't say it directly, but I did get that feeling."  
"Okazaki-kun, if I may. But why did you return here after Ryou's response?" Fujio interrupted.  
"Why? Well…" I thought about it, why did I return, even though I was concerned? "Well, I wanted to listen to Ryou and respect what she wanted, and I guess I was also still concerned about Kyou."  
"Oh, so you chose Kyou then?" Meiko's words stunned me. I chose Kyou?  
"W-what? No, I mean they're both my good friends. So…"  
"Hahaha, I was just teasing. Now, who are you going to end up with, hmm?" Meiko suddenly got closer to me, as if inspecting me.  
"Ahem. As much as you like teasing him Meiko, they are still my daughters. And I think Kyou's had enough excitement from tonight as is." Fujio stepped aside, allowing Kyou to be seen.  
Kyou was redder than I had ever seen. Maybe it was because of her blushing that I thought that I did. But everything about her stood out to me; her lips, her checks, her eyes. Just everything.  
"K-Kyou…" I had no words. Whether it be because that I was so concerned for her, or that I just suddenly found an attraction to her.  
"T-Tomoya? What are you…" Before I knew it, I had hugged her. Her sentence trailed off before I felt her head dig into my chest. "Thank you."  
I felt a warmth in-between us. A light came out from between us and floated upwards. What was it?  
"Tomoya, thank you. You came to me when I needed it." From the sound of her voice, I could tell she was starting to cry. "You chose me over Ryou. Even after all of the horrible things I did to you." In between Kyou's words, I thought I heard a door open. I looked to the foyer but didn't see anyone there. "Even though I pushed you onto Ryou. You still chose me. Tomoya, I'm sorry!" Fujio looked behind. Following his gaze, I saw a small head of hair. She had hidden herself from Fujio's view, but I could just see her.  
"Tomoya… I, I love you." Kyou's words pierced me. They felt familiar.  
A quick movement caught my attention, followed by a loud door slam.  
"Ryou!" I yelled out, letting go of Kyou and rushing to the foyer.  
"Tomoya!" I felt a pull on my jacket. Kyou had grabbed me, looking at me with dejected eyes. I couldn't bring myself to take another step. I turned around and embraced Kyou again. This time I felt her arms around me. It didn't last long until we separated.  
"Tomoya… Go. Go find Ryou. I'll wait for you." Her words were sad, but honest.  
I nodded, giving a reassuring look. I headed towards the foyer, getting stopped by Fujio.  
"Okazaki-kun." He gave me a stern look, typical of what a father would give. I would be lying if I said I wasn't intimidated. To my surprise, he put a hand on my shoulder. "Please, bring her home safe."  
"I will." I turned to Meiko and nodded to her. "And Kyou, go rest."  
"Okay."  
With all that sorted, I ran outside after Ryou.

I ran towards where Ryou had been last time. In such a short time, she had run off twice. It may have been annoying, but I didn't care. She was my friend. And I had hurt her. To my dismay, she wasn't where she was before: where would she be? Considering that we didn't leave too far apart from each other.  
"Ryou!" I called out, hoping that she would respond. "Ryou!"  
"Are you looking for someone?" A familiar voice called out to me.  
"Oh, Furukawa-san. Yeah, I am." I responded to her, but my voice seemed, saddened.  
"Was it a girl with short, purple hair?"  
"Yes, have you seen her?!" Finally! I'm getting somewhere.  
"Do you think you could tell me why?"  
I hesitated. "Well, I don't exactly have the time to-"  
"Don't worry. She hasn't gone far." She cut me off, almost like she knew something.  
"Okay, fine." I said with an exasperated tone.

I explained everything that had happened to Furukawa. How Kyou kissed me, Ryou running away. How I found her and then once she returned home she ran away after Kyou's confession. "And here we are." I finished my explanation without getting any interruptions from Furukawa.  
"I see. Well come inside." Furukawa said with no emotion.  
"Huh, why?" I questioned her proposal, with a hint of confusion.  
"You'll see." She walked towards her door and opened it, leading me inside.  
I entered through the door that she opened. I was introduced to a standard wooden foyer, a side table on the wall held a flower pot and a standard bowl as to put mail or paper in. Over it hung a painting of what seems to be a grove of trees.  
"This is a nice place." I continued to look around as we came to a break, stairs to my right and a curtain to the left.  
"Ah, thank you." She paused, noticing my wandering gaze. "Through the curtain is the bakery, and upstairs is all the bedrooms."  
"Right, this place is a bakery. I almost forgot." I could still smell the aroma of bread from the bakery itself.  
"Well um… Please, come upstairs." The nervousness in her voice was obvious.  
I followed Furukawa upstairs. She led me in front of a room with the door shut. I waited for a moment until she took a breath, and inside the room, Ryou was waiting.


End file.
